One of the
undercurrents of science fiction is a concern for the relationship
between biotechnical advances and wealth.
Immortality available only to the rich an oft used premise, there is an
awareness among sci-fi writers that the evolution of technology may not be
applied democratically given the economic system we currently exist
within. Locating one such rich boy in a
post-human context, James Patrick Kelly’s 1990 novella Mr. Boy examines the possibilities in highly imaginative fashion,
the boy eventually falling on one side of the title coin.
Mr. Boy is the story of Peter Cage, legally known as
Mr. Boy. Though twenty-five years old,
his ultra-rich mother has paid for stunting surgery twice, and at the start of
the story Mr. Boy is emerging from a third, his twelve year old body fresh and
ready. But what makes him truly happy is
that his sidekick, a ‘jailbroken’ assistant called Comrade, has just stolen for
him a nice piece of death porn. The autopsy
photo of a murdered CEO, Mr. Boy delights in the image on his way to a
party. Meeting a hippi-fied girl there,
getting to know her proves a game-changer in his life. But it’s the photo which comes back to haunt
him.
A story
for which the journey is just as important as the destination, Mr. Boy does a wonderful job of mixing
imagery, emotion, and post-humanism into a surreal story of a young man finding
something important in life. His Statue
of Liberty mother (literally), the zip-in, zip-out attitude toward cash, the
lifestyle of the girl’s family, Stennie the dinosaur friend, the smash
party—all are engaging building blocks of story. For sheer concept visuals, the novella is a
winner.
But that
likewise something human is invested in the novella makes Mr. Boy transcend simply winning.
Commentary on the manner in which modern society loses awareness of
materialism as more and more commodities are available at cheaper and cheaper
qualities and costs, particularly from the point of view of the wealthy, Kelly
posits a society only more immature in its use of resources than the already
irresponsible society we live in today.
The story not entirely nihilist, the resolution of Mr. Boy’s story is
one that, while leaving a nasty sight in the mirror, does look beyond toward
something better.
In the
end, Mr. Boy is the visual and
personal story of a young man finding something for himself he can believe
in. Money no object, his real world is
often just as virtual as being logged on to the web to party in bizarre avatars
with his capricious friends. Starting
out a polar version of Gattaca, (for
those who haven’t seen the film, run, run, run), the two nevertheless end up
moving (swimming?) in the same direction.
Thoughtful review of an exceptionally fine story. Kelly's work is always worth looking for, especially for his use of English. He is literate: not always a given in sf authors.
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